Review: Missing by Drake Braxton

Title: Missing

Author: Drake Braxton

Publisher: Seventh Window Publications

Rating: 5/5 Hearts 

Blurb: 

While attending a 20th high school reunion in Alabama, Blain Harrington loses the love of his life in the blink of an eye. He soon realizes that everything is not always as it seems as he sets out on a journey for answers.

What do you do when the world you thought you knew crumbles around you? How do you piece it back together?

Review: 

Holy Crap! What a debut novel! It knocked my socks off. Just when you thought you had it all figured out, the author threw a MAJOR curve ball. This book took me places that I really wasn't ready to go. It showed me demons that I thought I had faced and put long behind me. 

Blaine Harrington attends his high school reunion in small town Alabama, only to have his Brazilian born husband, Manny, go missing. Throughout this absolute nightmare, Blaine turns to alcohol to numb himself and deal with his loss. The grief on the pages was so very very real, as is the guilt that Blaine is dealing with for having betrayed his husband years earlier. When Manny turns up dead, your heart breaks for him. 

Mr. Braxton's characters definitely come to life, and he pulls you into the world that he's crafted for them. You have a deep amount of sympathy for Blaine, and yet you also sympathize with everything that he is putting his friends through in his grief process. His best friend Michael is his rock, unwavering in his support of Blaine, but not willing to give Blaine a free pass either. Grayson, who is battling his own demons, is Blaine's enabler as he struggles to deal with his issues. 

I want to take a time-out here to praise Drake Braxton for "getting it right" Many stories have an alcoholic character. Many have sympathetic ones. But I think, rarely does someone write it so poignantly. It's a demon that doesn't go away overnight, and it often comes back to stay a few times before its kicked for good. It lurks in the background, waiting for those weak moments to occur so it can pounce. As a recovering alcoholic myself, I both loved and cringed at its depiction. 

I also loved the evolution of the friendship between Grayson and Blaine, and the slight side-story of Michael's romance (cough cough, this would make a great story.. just saying) I would love to see more of Grayson and Blain, as well as Michael. This story was complex and so very different from what most people think of as a m/m story. 

So if you like Romantic Thrillers, you should check this book out. 

You can find it on his publishers website (linked above, just click on Seventh Window Publications) 

You can also find it on Amazon: here

If you are interested in following Drake Braxton, You can locate him on twitter @drakebraxton

or on his blog, linked above.